Thread-cabinet



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' H. T. LUSTBR.

THREAD CABINET No. 514,948. Patented Feb. 20, 1894.

11?, Z11. e Jared.

(N0 Model T. TBR. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. N THREAD CABINET.

r t nted Feb. 20, 1894 THE mmcmu. u'moeRAPl-lma COMPANY.

WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE T. LUSTER, OF BEREA, OHIO.

TH READ-CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,948, dated February 20, 1894. Application filed Tuned 3, 1892. Serial No. 436,509. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE T. Lusrnn, of Berea, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Oh1o,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thread-Cabinets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others I skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in thread-cabinets; and it consists, among other things, in a cabinet comprising one or more rows ofcompartments with the compartments ust large enough to accommodate a single row or file of spools with both the .receiving and discharging openings of the compartments located at the front side of the cabinet, with the compartments comprising substantially three sections, a. central section, and twoend sections'declining toward and from the central section, respectively, so that the spools of thread will roll by gravity from the receiving to the discharging end of the compartments. i

My invention consists also in an arrangement of two or more rows of compartments in such a manner that they shall not only occupy as little room as practicable, but so that the one or more of the rows of compartments will be located outside of the other row or rows and consequently be longer and adapted to contain a larger number of spools.

My invention consists, moreover, in the means 'employed'whereby a single spool of thread may be cut-off from the row or file of spools within the compartments.

My invention consists also in certain features of construction and in combination of parts hereinafter described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front side elevation of my improved cabinet. Fig. 2 is a side elevation in vertical section on line 2-2, Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrow T representing spools of thread. Fig. 3' is a vertical section of the block that supports the cut-oifs and mechanism whereby to operate thecut-offs, showing also the discharging-end of athread-holding compartment and illustrating the operation of the cut-off. Fig. t is a front side elevation of a number of cut-offs and the rod or bar upon which they are mounted in common.

A represents the casing of the cabinet.

The cabinet comprises three rows of compartments, B, O, and D, the rows of compartments extending from side to side of the cabinet and arranged the one row O intermediate between the other rows; B, O, and D representing the partition-walls between the compartments, respectivelyJ Said compartments are adapted to both receive and dis charge at the front side of the cabinet and are just large enough to accommodate a single row or file of spools of thread with the spools arranged crosswise of the compartment. Said compartments, in longitudinal section, are preferably of the form shown very clearly in Fig. 2, comprising three sections, via, a central upright section 5 at 'or near the rear end of the cabinet, a section, 6,

declining toward said central section, and a section, 7, declining from said central section,

sections 6 and 7 opening at the front side of the cabinet and being adapted to receive into and discharge from the compartment, respectively, the spools of thread, and section, 6, at its forward or receiving end is preferably provided with a flap-door, E, hinged at the top, as at e, and opening inward. The rows of compartments at sections dot the compartments, are preferably contiguous to each other as shown, whereas sections 7 of the compartments in the respective rows of compartments are separated more or less from sections 7 of the compartments in the adjacent row or rows of compartments to accommodate the interposition, at the forward end of the cabinet, between adjacent rows of compartments, of blocks G thatextend preferably from side to side of the cabinet as shown in Fig. 1, and are removably secured to the sides of the cabinetcasi'ng by means of screws, g. A corresponding block is also provided above the discharging-end of the compartments in rows of compartments B. 'The room between said lastmentioned block and the sections 6 of the compartments B may be occupied in any desirable manner, for instance, as shown, partially by a drawer H. v

Blocks G have rearwardly-projecting arms, brackets or members G that support a rod or bar, I. Rods or bars Iextend from side to side of the cabinet, and above sections 7 of the thread-holding compartments immediately below, have mounted thereon a cut-off K.

Out-0E K comprises preferably a piece of sheet metal bent approximately to the form of an inverted V or U and loosely mounted on the rod or bar. The cut-off necessarily comprises two members, 70, depending or adapted to depend into the thread-compartment immediately below, the top wall of the compartment being slotted to accommodate the location and operation of the cut-off, member 70 of the cut-off depending into the compartment in the normal position of the same. The cut offs are provided with an up- Wardly-projecting ear or pair of ears K to which is pivotally attached a rod, L, that extends forwardly through the adjacent block G.

Blocks G are grooved or recessed on the under side, as at G a single groove or recess extending preferably the entire length of the blocks, and rods L extend freely through perforations G3 in the blocks and through said groove or recess, and terminate outside of the. cabinet in buttons L. Just inside the forward wall of said groove or recess G rods L are provided With a pin Z, between which and the rear wall of said groove 0 recess is confined a spring, preferably a ooil:spring, as at M, mounted on said rods, springs M acting in the direction against pins Z that serve as stops to the forward movement of rods L and to compress spring M against the rear wall of groove or recess G3.

In Fig. 2 is shown the manner of entering a spool of thread into a thread-compartment of the cabinet, viz., into a compartment of the inner row of compartments B. The spool rolls down declining section 6, thence drops through section 5 into and rolls down declining section 7, the spools being held from passing out of the compartments by cut-rods K, memher 70 of the cut-off, in the normal position of the same, depending into the respective compartment sufiiciently far forward of the center of the top of the spool foremost in the compartment to securely hold said spool against advancing. By pressing or pushing inward on button L of rod L that is operatively connected with the cut-off, the latter is actuated to elevate the free end of member 70 of the same, releasing the foremost spool of thread and permitting the same to pass to and out at the discharging-end or opening of the threadcompartment where it may be caught by the person in charge.

The arrangement of member It of the cutofi and the distance between the free end of said member and the free end of member 7a is however, such that member it will, during the operation of the cut-off to release a spool as just described, enter the thread compartment in advance of the next succeeding spool and thus prevent the discharge of more than one spool at a time. The pressure having been removed from button L that is operatively connected with the cut-oil just operated, the recoil of spring M, that was compressed during the operation of the cut-off, will return the cut-off and operating mechanism to their normal position, member 70 of the cutoff withdrawing from the thread-compartment by momentarily pushing the spools back or slightly rolling the spool next to it over to allow it to pass and member 70 entering the same, the spools within the compartment of course advancing whenever a spool is discharged from the compartment.

The hinged flap-doors at the receiving-ends of the compartments, on their outer side, are provided respectively with a number corresponding to the number of the thread that the said compartments are designed, respectively, 0 receive, as well as some distinguishing feature to indicate the color of the thread, and buttons L'of the mechanism for operating the cut-offs K likewise bear figures corresponding to the number of the thread contained or to be contained in the compartment with whose cut-off said buttons are respectively connected, and some distinguishing feature to indicate the color of the thread.

Another desirable feature of the cabinet shown consists in the peculiar arrangement of therows of the thread compartments, as shown, whereby the compartments in one row are adapted to hold a larger or smaller number of spools than compartments in the other rows. Hence the longer compartments are designed for fine threads for which there is a greater demand whereas the compartments of less capacity are designed for threads less fine, or coarse threads, the object being to have the compartments for coarse or fine threads of such relative capacity that they will require re-filling at about the same time and avoid the inconvenience of being obliged to have one row of compartments refilled before another.

It will be observed that my improved thread-cabinet is more especially designed for stores where thread is retailed, and it will also be observed that by the construction illustrated, should a customer, by mistake, call for or receive a number of thread other than that which he desired, the same can readily be put back into the proper c0mpartment of the cabinet without inconvenience, or material loss of time.

Blocks G that are interposed between adjacent rows of compartments are of such form in cross-section, as to leave a space, S, below the discharging-ends of the compartments next above, whereby, upon releasing a spool of thread from any one of said lastmentioned compartments, by placing the hand, palm side up, in position with the fingers extending into space 8 thus provided below the discharging-end of the respective compartment, the spool of thread will be discharged directly into the palm of the hand, and a space, S, for the same reason, should be provided below the discharging-ends of the compartments in the outermost row 0 compartments.

What I claim 15+ In a thread-cabinet, the combination with a row of compartments, of a block, as at G, located above the discharging ends of the compartments and removably secured to the sides of the cabinet, a rod or bar extending from end to end of and supported by said.

block, a cut-off for each compartment mounted upon said rod or bar, a rod or member, as

at L, operatively connected with each cut-ofi and extending through said block outside of the cabinet where it terminates in a button day of May, 1892.

HORACE T. LUSTER.

Witnesses:

O. H. DORER, WARD HOOVER. 

